It's a party, darling!

It's my party and I'll give ebooks away if I want to! Maybe a little corny, but hey it is my birthday.
And to celebrate the auspicious occasion I am giving all subscribers to my mailing list two discount coupons. They are valid for two days only, so get your name on that list and collect some reading matter for the festive season.

Subscribe today and use the chance to get three full length novels for the ridiculous price of $1.98.

Gerá's Gift is FREE on 1 and 2 December 2015
(for subscribers only)

Keeper of the Dragon Sword is $0.99 on 1 and 2 December 2015
(for subscribers only)

Michael's Mystery is still on tour this week and $0.99 until 3 December 2015.








I send out my newsletter twice a year, so there is no chance of spamming your inbox. And I respect your right to privacy, no sharing of that email address, ever!

35 Day Blog Challenge - Day 26: Keeping track of detail in series writing

Style sheet: Keeper of the Dragon Sword

There is a handy little tool used by editors and copy editors that I found to be useful for series writing: it is called a style sheet. While editors will use it to keep track of unique words, facts they have to check, spelling of characters' names (especially the weird ones I sometimes use) and so on. The editor does not know your story the way you do, so by making notes they keep track of things they have to check to make the editing of your story the best it can be.

As a fantasy and science fiction author, I sometimes have to invent words. I often come up with unusual names for my characters, for instance Alu''Adr'Erinia is the Guardian of the Future, whom you will meet in Michael's Mystery. Not only do I need to keep track of multiple characters as the series evolves, I have to keep track of the spelling of their names too. Those apostrophes - what was I thinking?

It is not only the names that I need to keep track off, but also the setting. The stories of the Nations of Peace take place on several planets, but my characters also travel from one to another. The means of travel depends on the reason for their journey. In Géra's Gift, T'ara, Ta'an and Géra were on space ships involved in a war with the planet Simi.

In book 4, Waiting for Adrian (coming in 2016) there is another war, so keeping track of the technology of the war machine is important.

Also important is knowing (and keeping it straight) which characters have what abilities. Who can space jump for instance. And who can dimension jump. There is a difference between the two modes of travel, and remembering who can do what can become a nightmare without using some kind of tool to help out.

Whether your series is simpler or more complicated as this one of mine, keeping a record of things and people featuring in multiple stories, is essential.

I found using style sheets to be an easy and quick way to do it, but whatever means you choose, keeping your facts straight across several books can be challenge if you are not prepared for it from the start.

Pop around tomorrow for a special post about blogging and author promotions on the Broomstick.

If you want to see what the other participants are blogging about, you can find their blogs here. Why not pop on over and leave a comment?

Blog Hop: Spread Some Indie Love

  

Géra's Gift Link                             Keeper of the Dragon Sword Link

♥  Happy Valentine's Day!  ♥

The codes are valid until 21 Feb 2015

Happy Birthday to Me...and a special offer to YOU!

When you sit and reflect back over the past year, as one often does and needs to do, I came realise that I have had a truly blessed year.
Sure I am technically a year older today, but I have a lot to be grateful for.
And to celebrate my birthday and all the good things in my life - and to support Read Tuesday coming soon - I have discounted three books from 1 to 15 December 2014.
Oh, and there are still free books too, so don't forget to browse around on my Smashwords page for them.

Keeper of the Dragon Sword - The Dragon Masters

Now $2.99
Discount coupon : QY36M

Géra's Gift - The Grandmasters

Now $0.99
Discount coupon: SF78R

STORM Volume I

Now $0.99
Discount coupon: GQ69M





So there you go - get one, get them all and have a special treat for your Christmas stocking from me!
Oh, and if you want more, why not visit the Read Tuesday website for hundreds more books to enjoy.

AtoZ Blog Challenge: X is for XA'AN

Akan Village on planet Xa'an

Xa'an is the place where everything began. Where Géra and his best friend, Ta'an grew up and got into typical boy trouble on the Ville estate.

The forest bordering Akan where they met T'ara when she got lost as a child.

The place where they had formed friendships that would last a lifetime.

A planet when a young Elizabeth was convinced by her cousins, Géra and Stefan, that snakes were not dangerous at all. Only to find out much later that her abilities would always draw the reptiles to her, without any threat to her life.

On the outskirts of the city of Ikea where the cousins would ride horses and swim in the river and live the carefree existence of the young - uncaring and unknowing of the destinies that awaited them all.

Xa'an, a planet destined to produce a wise young Grandmaster - to live through wars, defended by powerful dragons and warrior magicians. A planet that saw, and will see, sacrifices so big, and love so true, that in itself it might just be enough to safeguard its future.

Pinterest Storyboard of  Keeper of the Dragon Sword

AtoZ Blog Challenge: K is for KRYANE

Image from Pinterest

Also taking part in Camp NaNoWriMo during April, I am working on finishing the first draft of my third novel in the Nations of Peace Series, Michael's Mystery. It is also the second Grandmaster story of the series.

Michael is sent to investigate a series of serial murders that took place in KEEPER OFTHE DRAGON SWORD. His bosses, the Lords of the High Council, sent him to Kryane to find out what motivated these horrifying murders and to help bring the responsible person to justice.

Unlike Xa'an - the planet where GERA'S GIFT and KEEPER OF THE DRAGON SWORD took place, Kryane is mostly a desert.

The planet is divided into four continents: Kyrja (the largest), Ananla, Prochi and Lirtyni (the smallest). The four continents are surrounded by two oceans, both of them very cold and only supporting a limited number of species of sea creatures. The ice caps are frozen solid and the prevailing winds make them uninhabitable to mammalian life forms.

During his investigation Michael finds himself trapped with Andesine in a sandstorm and he learns that life in a desert environment is more challenging than he realised. The inhabitants of the village of Amer guard their water supply jealously. The villagers also grow their own food, but to enable them to do that they have to work in greenhouses that can also be hazardous to them because of the heat.

But these are people adapted to living in a desert. The fabrics and styles of their clothing suit their environment. They are prepared for sandstorms, but are not lax when it comes to cleaning up afterwards. The villagers living in Amer appreciate and support each other as their lives invariably depend on it.

Now only if Andesine was so easy to figure out. What are the secrets hiding behind those red eyes and how much does she really know about the murders?

Read an eBook this week

It is eBook week on Smashwords and as a participating author I am discounting THREE of my books just for you this week

Click the title of the book and voila!
  

Géra's Gift is now $ 1.50 (50% off)  use code REW50 to get the discount

  Keeper of the Dragon Sword is $ 1.50 (75% off) use code REW75 to get the discount
  Their +1 is $ 1.50 (50% off) use code REW50 to get the discount

 Bubble Trouble is FREE
Pixie Dust, Boots and Reindeer is FREE

Click for help on how to download any Smashwords ebook to your eReader

ENJOY!

♥ ♥ ♥

 

Competition Last 7 days!

Competition Extended!

Competition - Win a Coffee Morning with Linzé Brandon and Book-ed

Goodies and Giveaways - Last Chance to Enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Tour - KEEPER OF THE DRAGON SWORD - last week

It is the last week of the tour, and if you have not yet entered the giveaway, please do so. There are lots of goodies to win!

If you are still looking for reviews you can find them now on Goodreads. Thank you to the reviewers who went to the trouble of not only reading the book, but posting their comments.

Here are the last blogs to visit on the tour:

Sunday 23 June - CBL Reviews

Wednesday 26 June - My Book Addiction and More

Thank you to my tour host Laurynne @ CBL Reviews who does a great job of promoting indie authors.

Launching KEEPER OF THE DRAGON SWORD - invitation

If you live in the area of Pretoria or Centurion

please pop around and have a cup of coffee with us!

Blog Tour: KEEPER OF THE DRAGON SWORD - Week 3

With the third week of the blog tour commencing today, I would like to thank the blog hosts for their contribution in promoting Keeper of the Dragon Sword, the second book in the series The Nations of Peace.

Here are some reviews already if you were thinking of buying yourself a copy. But you could also win an ebook copy - just visit one of the blogs and enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway.

Reviews:   4.5 Stars    4.5 Stars  

And here are the blogs to visit this week (they are all review posts):

Sunday 16 June
Monday 17 June
Tuesday 18 June
Wednesday 19 June
Thursday 20 June
Friday 21 June
Saturday 22 June

And remember to enter the competition!

Book Tour: Week 2 - KEEPER OF THE DRAGON SWORD

This week the dragon is swinging his sword in the general direction of these blog hosts. Why don't you visit with me and see if he is picking a fight with anyone in particular?

Sunday June 9th: The LUV'NV

Monday June 10th: Share My Destiny

Tuesday June 11th: Italian Brat's Obsessions

Wednesday June 12th: Cover Reveals

Thursday June 13th: The Broke Book Bank 

Friday June 14th: candy coated book blog

Saturday June 15th: The Fantastical World of Wonders

I will add the list to Facebook if you want to share, or follow me on Twitter to find the day's blog (#KotDS). Thank you for touring all these wonderful blogs with me!

Book Tour: Week 1 - KEEPER OF THE DRAGON SWORD

The blogs were Elizabeth and Randall are visiting this week! Pop around and leave a comment. There is also a competition with a number of giveaways that you can win.

Tuesday  June 4th: Simply Sensational Book Fanatics

Wednesday June 5th: Brianna Lee Book Reviews

Thursday June 6th: CBL Reviews

Friday June 7th: Books and Insomnia

Saturday June 8th: The Book Diaries 

I will add the list to Facebook if you want to share, or follow me on Twitter to find the day's blog (#KotDS). Thank you for touring all these wonderful blogs with me!

Blog Tour: KEEPER OF THE DRAGON SWORD

Tomorrow is the start of the blog tour of Keeper of the Dragon Sword. It is my second novel in the series of The Nations of Peace and the first of The Dragon Masters.

If you have received a review copy, please remember to post your review here (Goodreads).

I love the cover and it is taking part in two contests. If you like it too, why don't you vote for it:
* on Facebook on 10 June 2013 here
* on AuthorsdB.com here voting closes end of 2013
Thank you for you support!

There are quite a few giveaways, so make sure you enter everyday to increase your chances of winning!

I will post and tweet the links of the participating blogs, but would like to thank all of them in advance for supporting authors like myself in telling the world about our books.

Featuring Chess in my Books

With Keeper of the Dragon Sword approaching its date of publication (and I am very excited about that!) I have been making preparations for the launch both in my home town (if you can call Pretoria a town) and online.

Part of the visuals that will form part of the launch include swords and chess pieces. If you have read Géra's Gift, you will know that chess featured quite strongly when T'ara took part in a Strategy tournament on the planet Abea.

Although the swords play a more prominent role in Keeper of the Dragon Sword, Elizabeth's bodyguards play Strategy while they are guarding her.

If you are in Pretoria, or just in the vicinity, make sure that you keep a close eye on my blog, there are quite a few surprises that I am keeping up my sleeve for now, that will reveal themselves in April, May and June this year.

And one of those surprises ... Marisa van der Merwe, Founder and Owner of MiniChess, and Founder & Trustee of Moves for Life

Why would you encourage anyone to take up chess?
Chess is fun/creative/complex/universal/has endless options… Chess is an age-old game, yet links-up with modern thinking, computers, internet and social media. It exceeds all barriers of age, gender, culture, language, time and even physical disability. Playing a game of chess is like a total escape – almost like taking a journey to some fun exciting place, even if it is just a 5-minute game. You can play chess anywhere, anytime, even on the internet! On top of that: chess is cheap and keeps your mind active.

Read the full interview...

Tips, Tricks and Tales - Lesson 4

Editing your Story: Using the Stylesheet Proofreading Trick

I am presently reading Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies by Suzanne Gilad, a lady of considerable experience in these fields. Now you might argue, correctly too, that the book was written for somebody who wants to pursue these activities as a career. I have no ambition to be either of those professionally, but I did quickly sense that learning how a professional did these tasks could also benefit my writing as a romance author.

Let’s examine the proofreading tips of the Stylesheet that I have posted here:

As a South African my English more closely resembles that of a British person, that is why the Oxford dictionary and the UK setting on my spell checker. It is a choice, but it has to be employed consistently (1).

Also, Keeper of the Dragon Sword is the second novel in a series. So any words that I used in Géra’s Gift during the magic battle scenes, I have to use again, in the same manner and spelling (1) and (4). So when someone reads Keeper after Géra’s Gift (which I sincerely hope they do) suddenly using a firestrike, instead of a fire-ball would be irritating my reader and that would be the last thing I want.

Employing the same substituted words (my characters have a more formal way of expressing themselves) is also essential in a series (3), and that includes the descriptions of my main characters’ designations (6). Going to great lengths to address Géra as ‘my lord Grandmaster’ in the first book, would really seem demeaning to just call him ‘the grandmaster’ in the rest of the series.

Something that I find particularly irritating in myself is my constant mistyping of words that the computer spellchecker would miss. Words like, ‘fro’ instead of ‘for’ and mistakes like ‘a the’ as opposed to ‘at the’. Since I do it with such regularity I made a list of them to check during editing. The list here (4) is incomplete, but I am sure you understand my point.

It is therefor important to be consistent, especially when writing a series of books.

In Lesson 5 we will look at the Copyediting tricks that you can employ using the Stylesheet.

Interrogation of Linzé Brandon - Part 3

(Concluding interview with Prime Suspect in the Case of the Novelist) 

Date 3.14.C

The detective sat back in her chair and planted her boots on the table.

"So how do you come up with your characters?"

I shrugged. "It is not always easy. Most of the time the story just pops into my head and the characters are born as part of the story. I cannot separate the plot from the people in the story, they are each the product of the other."

She planted her feet on the floor and stared at me. "Do you like boots?"

"I do. Why?"

Her lips quirked. "No reason."

"So what else to you like?"

"Aside from writing, of course, I love reading romance novels, and amateur sleuth murder mysteries."

"Your favourite authors?"

I pursed my lips. There were many, but she probably only wanted the shortlist. "Okay, Here goes. Gena Showalter, Maya Banks, Kerrelyn Sparks, Portia da Costa, Lynn Viehl, Christine Warren, Karen Marie Moning, Maggie Sefton, Alexandra Ivy, Jacquelyn Frank, Elizabeth Lynn Casey, Allyson James..."

"That's quite a mix," she interrupted.

"There are many more. I buy all their books and simply love their stories. What can I say?"

"Any other pursuits?"

"Aside from work, which does take up a lot of pleasure time, I paint abstracts, and I am busy learning Chinese brush painting. I looks so simple, but I still have a long way to go before I would consider myself proficient."

She pushed herself to her feet, and collected the tablet from the table. "You're a hopeless romantic." She paused in turning away. "It is probably one of the reasons that people like your book." She smirked and opened the door. "Get out and go write some more stories about people who fall in love."

I was a little surprised, okay, a lot surprised at the dismissal, but then Jessica Stone was not a character that was easily predictable.

"Goodbye, detective."

She waved a hand and disappeared.

All things considering I got off lightly, I was not about to throw that away. It took me a minute to leave the headquarters of the police of Sunn City.